ICYMI: President Obama Signs Executive Order Declaring December 26 a Holiday ?

President Barack Obama has signed an executive order declaring December 26th a holiday.

The order means all federal employees will be given the day off and all federal agencies will be closed on that day.

The order states, “All executive branch departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty on Friday, December 26, 2014, the day after Christmas Day.”

According to the order, exceptions can be made “for reasons of national security, defense, or other public need.”

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Thousands of Cellphone Users Receive Government “Emergency Alert”

Thousands of cellphone users in Kentucky were surprised to receive an “emergency alert” from the federal government warning them to “prepare for action,” a message local authorities later blamed on “human error” during testing.

The alert, which was was sent out to people in the Corbin and London areas of Southern Kentucky earlier today, came from the Emergency Operations Center in Frankfort via the Federal Communication Commission’s Wireless Emergency Alert system.

The messages are designed to warn local residents of immediate safety threats in their area, but some have criticized the “government alerts” as being invasive.

Frankfort Emergency Operations spokesman Buddy Rogers said that the alert was mistakenly sent out “during testing” and was the result of “a computer error, followed by a human error.”

Back in 2011, the FCC began to roll out emergency government alerts to cellphone users in major cities before the program was made mandatory on all new smartphones. Although a user can opt out of some of the alerts, presidential messages direct from the White House cannot be turned off.

This is not the first time that erroneous messages sent out via the government’s emergency alert system have caused consternation.

Early tests of the cellphone emergency alert system in New Jersey caused panic after Verizon customers received text messages warning them that a “civil emergency” was in progress and to “take shelter,” prompting alarmed citizens to flood 911 lines with anxious calls.

Verizon Wireless later apologized to its customers for causing alarm, admitting that the confusion was caused by a “test” of the PLAN emergency alert system.

Back in October we also reported on how television viewers in several different states were interrupted by an emergency alert from the White House warning them to stand by for an emergency message and not to use their phones.

AT&T subsequently blamed a nationally syndicated radio station for triggering the alert message, although this explanation was questioned by some given that only the federal government has the capability of sending out EAS alerts.

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The 2% target is low enough that the household frogs in the kettle of hot water never realize they’re being boiled alive because the increase is so gradual.

A comment by correspondent David C. suggested the importance of demonstrating the impoverishing consequences of central banks reaching their 2% inflation target. David observed: “That central bankers aren’t all hanging by their necks from lamp posts everywhere is a testament to how scarce are those who grasp exponents and compounding.”

Ten years of modest 2% inflation robs households of nearly 20% of their purchasing power. What was $100 in year 1 costs about $122 after 10 years of “modest” 2% inflation. Put another way, $100 in year one is only worth $81 in year 10.

Two decades of “modest” 2% inflation robs households of one-third of their purchasing power. What was $100 in year 1 costs about $150 after 20 years of “modest” 2% inflation. Put another way, $100 in year one is only worth $66 in year 20.

Even when central banks fail to reach their 2% annual-thievery target, incomes decline across the entire spectrum. The middle class (however you define it) lost roughly 10% as of 2012. In Japan, famous for essentially no inflation, wages have fallen by 9% in real terms since 1997.

Imagine central banks overshoot their 2% theft per year target and reach 3% annual inflation. If 2% is good, 3% must be even better, right?

In one decade of 3% annual inflation, the purchasing power of $100 declines to $73, and after 20 years of central bank inflation, it drops almost in half to $54. The central banks’ inflation is a steady transfer of wealth from households to the banking sector and those holding ballooning assets like stocks. This is why central banks cling to their target so vociferously: their reason to exist is to enrich the banking sector at the expense of the rest of us.

The 2% target is low enough that the household frogs in the kettle of hot water never realize they’re being boiled alive because the increase is so gradual. The central banks assume their 2% plan to impoverish us all escaped our notice. Apparently it has.